van Schaik Dressage Scholarship Application Available

Throughout his life, Dr. H.L.M. van Schaik fought to preserve the classical art of Horsemanship in dressage. To van Schaik, this meant utilizing gentleness, psychology and the horse’s innate qualities to develop a horse that is useful, willing and correct in his work.

To preserve and encourage the classical methods van Schaik so strongly believed in, the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) shall make an award of $1,000 to a Morgan individual wishing to further his or her skill, knowledge or proficiency in classically ridden dressage.

In selecting a candidate for this scholarship, emphasis will be placed on helping a rider move from the lower levels of dressage to fourth level and above. Preference will be given to applicants who have competed their Morgan(s) at First Level Test 4 or above and received a 60 percent or higher score at a recognized competition.

The scholarship must be used to further the training and education of the applicant and their Morgan(s). Eligible expenses include instruction, travel and living expenses directly related to receiving instruction, instructional materials, etc. Following selection, the successful applicant must attest that he/she will continue to pursue dressage training on a Morgan for the duration of the scholarship.

Previous van Schaik Dressage Scholarship winners are not eligible. Applicant must be a current competing AMHA member.

Applications should be assembled in the following order:
1. Application Cover Sheet
2. Narrative (up to 5 pages)
3. Two (2) written letters of reference
4. Up to one page of photo(s) Optional

Deadline: November 30. Applicants must submit a fresh application package each year to be considered. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to the AMHA Office:

Applications will be scored independently by a team of qualified reviewers designated by the AMHA. Applicants will be notified no later than the following April 1.

To obtain the details and application form, contact AMHA or download from the website here, https://www.morganhorse.com/programs/van-schaik/.